2. 2 SMART TV
THE QUEST FOR
SEAMLESSNESS
FOR SIX DECADES NOW, TELEVISION’S EVOLUTION HAS BEEN ANIMATED BY PARADOXICAL
FORCES: WHEN USING THEIR DEVICES, PEOPLE NEGOCIATE DESIRES FOR MORE CONTENT ALL
THE WHILE EXPECTING SIMILAR LEVELS OF SEAMLESSNESS, THE POWER TO ZAP AND THE PO-
WER NOT TO CHOOSE.
T
elevision’s mass media Based on the radio’s model, the One day the infra-red remote
story starts somewhere 1950s television was characterized control arrives on the market and
in the early 1950s after by its simplicity: an on/off button the television viewer finds the
the tech pioneers had is enough in times and spaces early comfort of simple usability
solved the main engineering where there is only one channel. again: he can remain seated while
problems for good reception. But as the amount of viewers in- flicking through a diversity of
Over the decade TV became a creased, so did the diversity of the channels… at least till channel
household object as a plugged expectations in content and con- surfing compulsively through sat-
device projecting sequences of sequently the amount of channels ellite TV becomes a reality.
programs and advertisements offered. With this surge of possi-
into still space. At home, in cof- bilities new buttons appeared on As the century progresses, com-
fee houses, the television pro- the set to change channels (more munication, travel, commodities,
jected time-based images with practical than the radio’s tuner change and more generally, time
pre-determined schedules fol- that needs to be turned to find the accelerates and an endless thirst
lowed in communion by thou- correct frequencies). for new content that is never
sands of people. Watching tele-
One of the first wireless
remote control by Zenith
in the 60’s
vision created events in the now
as well as for the next day
(something coined the ‘water-
cooler’ effect – where everyone
at the office gathers around the
water-cooler to talk about last
night show).
More and more devices are connected to television
sets. Now internet enters the game

3. SMART TV 3
quenched continues to progress. simple usage seems to simply The geekiest among us create
Appears cheaper television sets have disappeared. situations to visualise content
that can adorn every room of your on their television set from
home. Then the VCR, and rapidly And then one day internet ap- their computer, while for most
“source” buttons on remote con- pears continuing – depending youngsters watching television
trols ... And DVD readers... And on the angle you want to take – often means lying in bed,
cable boxes… And Blue Ray read- the increasing individualistic or watching a computer screen
ers… And the trillions of possible personalized service TV can while stalking friends on Face-
channels from satellites. Before offer. Obviously the internet is a book with a tablet in one hand
we know it, the TV viewer is door and platform to access to and texting from a cellphone in
drowning in endless options, a sea infinite content. Hypertextual at the other. It’s mutlitasking, but
it’s also just a new way of
watching television.
TV VIEWERS WIN IN CONTENT WHAT THEY LOSE IN
SIMPLICITY. TO WATCH DIFFERENT CONTENT ONE It feels like chaos and many un-
derstand this as the end of TV.
MUST LEAVE THE COMFORT OF SITTING IN THE COACH But it’s not, and today’s bustling
scene of new Connected TV
models is the latest in a history
of abstruse remote controls cov- first, and progressively more of personalisation that started
ered with countless esoteric plas- visual and video-based with in 1956 with the invention of
tic bumps. In parallel, television sites such as YouTube. The peer the remote control.
becomes less social and the to peer explodes, offering easy
chances of two co-workers having access to huge amounts of ille- What’s next ?
the same TV night shrinks. Fur- gal yet high-quality content. But
thermore with the democratisa- legal ones appear on the market
tion of home video sets, and later as well with VOD, Netflix, Hulu,
the generalisation of photo cam- and sites and apps that replay
eras, the everyday person can be a some channels’ old televised
time-based image producer in his content.
or her own right. Going back to a
A New Television : New devices, new players, new tools, new behaviours, new frus-
trations, new desires... It’s not about the TV set, it’s about a special moment we al-
ways called watching TV

4. 4 SMART TV
NEW DEVICES
FOR A LONG TIME, THE MAIN DEVICE ASSOCIATED WITH THE WORLD OF TELEVISION WAS THE
TV SET. TODAY TV SETS BECOME CONNECTED AND VIDEO CAN BE WATCHED ON ANY SCREEN.
TELEVISON’S LANDSCAPE IS GROWING FAST.
I
ncreasingly more devices can doesn’t make it an alternative ei- rediscover your own media collec-
play video, and bring new ther. To synchronize content on tion but also new favourites by
sources of video content into iTunes a PC is required—a reli- pulling recommendations from
one’s home. First with mo- able and yet impractical way to your Facebook and Twitter
biles, then with tablets, TV is now manage a TV session. friends. Telecom and cable com-
potentially everywhere. So how panies such as Comcast in the US,
can such a surge of technology in Gathering personal and streamed Free in France and Videotron in
and around TV— shattering de- content, media extenders such as Québec try to offer such services
vices and content—remain an Boxee Box could solve some con- to their clients with their own
asset for the consumer without sumer usage issues. Boxee Box is a boxes.
being a puzzle? good example of a tool, among
hundreds of other contenders, New smart TV sets integrate
Open devices remain too com- that brings computer-based and connectivity without additional
plicated, and closed ones not stored content to your TV: mov- devices
consumer-oriented enough ies and TV programs streamed
from the Internet, apps and a web In Europe, several initiatives are
With the Google TV (only avail- browser. It is designed to help you gathering channels and manufac-
able in the US) a future where
entertainment is integrated and
seamless is in sight. As it is open
and powerful, it unleashes your BOXES AND CONNECTED TV SETS HOPE TO SPEED
content: taking online video to the ADOPTION. NEW ECONOMY DEVICE MAKERS, TV SET
sofa, along with your personal
photos and music, favourite web- MAKERS AND ACCESS PROVIDERS HAVE STARTED THE
sites and an open selection of
RACE TO BECOME THE MAIN POINT OF ENTRY TO
apps. Hopefully, it will bring in a
new deal among the traditionally SMART TV CONTENT.
closed circuit tools currently
available on the market of con-
nected TVs. Additionally, Google
provides guidelines for developers
to convert their websites into 10-
foot UI interfaces, clearly a proof
that the web is bound to enter
television. But because of a non
user-friendly interface, Google TV
requires geek talent to be used,
navigate and enjoy.
Apple TV is a responsive device,
providing streamed content in an
effective manner, be it from You-
tube or your PC. However, the
absence of a browser is a major
issue, preventing users from navi-
gating freely to watch any video
available on the web. Requiring
rentals to watch qualitative videos
the viewer can feel trapped, and
the lack of a proper interface to “HbbTV” is a pan-European initiative meant to deliver IP
navigate within personal data entertainment to TVs.

5. SMART TV 5
turers hoping to attract the mass
market before pure players such PIONEER CUSTOMERS
as Google do. Hybrid Broadcast
Broadband TV (HbbTV) hopes to MANAGE TO CONNECT
accelerate adoption by harmonis-
ing the delivery of entertainment THEIR TV
through connected TVs. New A LOT OF SOLUTIONS ALREADY ALLOW CUSTOMERS TO
services from entertainment pro-
CONNECT THEIR LIVING ROOM TV SET TO THE WEB
viders will be available directly on
the TV set: video on demand,
catch-up TV, interactive advertis- Devices used to stream video from Netflix or Hulu according to
ing, personalisation, social net- US Netflix and Hulu Users (% of respondants)
working and program-related
services such as Electronic Pro- Netflix Hulu
gramme Guides. YouView, the UK
hybrid TV platform, plans to give Directly on computer 42% 89%
public service broadcasters (PSBs) Connecting computer to TV 14% 20%
high-profile places for both chan-
nels & search queries. Wii 25% 3%
PS3 13% 3%
Roku box 5% 3%
THE THIN BORDER Xbox Live 12% 2%
BETWEEN THE LIVING Internet-connected Blu-ray player 11% 2%
ROOM TV SCREEN AND Internet-enabled TV 6% 2%
OTHER DEVICES IS
On mobile phone 3% 2%
On iPad 3% 1%
ABOUT TO VANISH.
Google TV 1% 1%
WILL THE NEW
Apple TV 1% 1%
DEVICES IMPACT THE
Tivo with Netflix access 2% 0%
COUCH POTATOE’S
Source: The Nielsen company as cited in company blog, July 27, 2011
SACRED TV RITUAL ? reported by eMarketer
W
hen it comes to plug; and game consoles also have
connecting the liv- a significant browsing potential
ing room TV set to because by design they are linked
the web, adoption is to the TV. In order to get the best
hindered by poorly designed dedi- of both worlds—watching on
cated solutions. Laptops and their large screens and browsing—
easy to use interface, or mobiles some people go over the hassle of
with their anywhere anytime connecting their laptops to their
specificity are simpler ways to TVs. In any case pioneer consum-
watch TV on a screen. It is a ques- ers will divert from connected
tion of context: people use the TVs’ technological limitations
most convenient device when and because manually connecting a
where they’re watching. PC TV remains the best way to reach
screens are people’s preferred comfortably what matters most:
interface for online video viewing, content.
because they have nothing to

6. 6 SMART TV
NEW TOOLS
A LOT OF COMPANIES ARE LOOKING FOR THE VIDEO GRAAL, TRYING TO FILL THE GAP BET-
WEEN THEORICAL SEAMLESSNESS AND REAL SERVICE.
A
few years ago, a French
start-up, Wizzgo, fright-
ened the market when it
proposed a virtual VCR
that allowed people to virtually
record anything that played on
TV to download it afterwards.
The company lost in court against
the French channels, but its large
adoption in just a few weeks
showed they were tapping on an
unfulfilled need by the traditional
channels. Their model challenged
the “normal” usage of a standard
TV set (the ability to watch pro-
grams on any screen) but also
urged the broadcasters to launch
catch-up solutions as pioneer cus-
tomers were hungry for change.
Among the tools, open
source universal players
like Videolan (VLC) or
Plex on Macintosh,
have had an important
role in massively de-
ploying solutions to watch seam-
lessly any content on computers.
Thanks to these types of players,
that cancelled the difficult task of
finding the right “codec” (video
compression format), linking the
computer to the TV screen di-
rectly or wirelessly has proved to
be an efficient solution to watch
movies on TV sets.
On Facebook and Twitter, shared
videos can easily be spotted and
watched on applications or web-
sites like Flipboard or paper.li.
A new service, Squrl, offers an
interesting solution to flag videos "Squrl has entirely changed the nature of tv by filling
so as to place them in a queue and
watch them later in the program. in those rare moments when I let myself get carried
With this type of format it be- away by the flow of images channel surfing collapsed
comes worth connecting your on my sofa. How? Because instead of having to
collected videos to your TV set to
relax in your sofa and watch eve- watch programs broadcasted by channels I’m abso-
rything you didn't have time to lutely uninterested in, I can be suggested more inter-
appreciate during your work day. esting and entertaining content." NICOLAS GUT, BLOGGER

7. SMART TV 7
This relatively new approach to access boxes, like Freebox in
viewing content is putting the old France, which is a blueray player,
models (channels and telecom a hard disk, a VCR and offers an
companies) for legal, copyright, "inside your home" streaming
process and bandwidth reasons at solution for all available channels.
risk. Older models are rooted in
IF ONE SUMS UP WHAT NETFLIX, HULU, YOUTUBE
OR SQURL PROPOSE, IT BECOMES OBVIOUS THAT
NEW TELEVISION IS MADE POSSIBLE BY THE CLOUD.
STEP BY STEP, NEW TOOLS MAKE TV WATCHING
existing or coming device. Quite
FROM ANY SOURCE A SIMPLER EXPERIENCE. HOW probably HTML5 is going to be-
come the universal solution for
COULD A TOOL WHICH GATHER ALL INNOVATION IN providing cloud-based video
ONE PLACE BE UNDERSTANDABLE ENOUGH TO STAY content. This will take time, the
main issues regarding quality and
SEAMLESS ? bandwidth still need to be solved
to offer an optimal TV watching
TV programs with qualitative Some companies like VidZapper experience. But the work is in
flows of images under clear copy- or Sezmi propose solutions to a progress...
right deals. Today they try to pro- broadcaster’s new key issue : pro-
vide a more integrated qualitative vide correct quality streams over
television experience with their IP, live and on-demand to any
The Freebox interface experience is the same on most devices (here on the iPad)

8. 8 SMART TV
NEW PROVIDERS
PEER TO PEER TECHNOLOGY ENABLED THE DOWNLOAD OF CONTENT THAT, FROM A CUSTO-
MER’S POINT OF VIEW, HAD BEEN ABSURDLY UNAVAILABLE IN THE PAST. THIS NEW USAGE
PUSHED LEGAL NEW PLAYERS TO ENTER THE GAME.
T
he rise of new digital Traditional players test new offers nected from the consumer’s per-
players created a strong ceived value ($60 a movie).
disruption in the tradi- VOD or catch up TV: new con-
tional TV offer and this sumer habits helped traditional Consumer-focused OTT offers
came at a cost for more than one content providers and broadcast-
company. Either death or evolution. ers develop improved tools and Free offers derived from P2P hab-
offers. In France in 2010, 2,3 mil- its were developed first, and lead
Pure players’ new deal lion people had already watched a the way for new business models.
program using an on-demand Based on comScore’s latest media
Blockbuster, once the leader in platform and over the whole year, analysis (July 2011) July was a re-
video rentals, had filed for bank- an average of 18 programs per cord month for online video con-
ruptcy and closed its stores in person was watched. Like many sumption with an estimated aver-
Canada when it couldn't counter channels worldwide, today age of 18.5 hours of online video
the revolution of home entertain- France’s first private channel of- viewing (US). With over 3 billion
ment posed by Netflix Inc. Since, fers a multi-device programming viewing sessions and almost 160
Blockbuster launched the Block- service which includes free catch- million unique viewers, Google
buster Movie Pass, a monthly $10 up TV that gives access to more sites (YouTube in the forefront)
entertainment package to get than 80 hours, 7 days after live are leading. Hulu—an ad-
streamed videos. Traditional ac- broadcast, bonus videos and fee- supported on-demand streaming
tors of the TV world have had to based video on demand. In the services of TV shows, movies,
reconsider their offer and make USA, Comcast proposes to watch webisodes and other new media—
the effort to focus again on the movies still in theatres from came in 9th place in terms of
consumers’ ways of accessing home. The only fail in this at- viewers, but was 2nd in terms of
content. tempt is a pricing policy discon- minutes per viewer, demonstrat-

9. SMART TV 9
ing that people are ready to watch
ads to get their videos for free.
port from The Diffusion Group.
Netflix tries to be available on WEB USER
In the fight to provide customers
every possible device or platform,
recently including Facebook, GENERATED
with interesting content and
smart, convenient ways of getting
which, till then, was concentrat-
ing its video strategy on its mem- TV PRO-
it, initiatives are endless. Among
them, Google is currently said to
bers’ content.
GRAMS
PEOPLE STARTED USING THE
WEB TO GET THEIR FAVORITE
MOST NEW COMERS TO THE CONTENT DELIVERING CONTENT… IN TURN, THE
GAME ARE PROPOSING THEIR OFFER ON ALL AVAILA- WEB IS NOW INFLUENCING
BLE DEVICES. THE SEARCH FOR TECHNICAL UNIVER- WHAT’S IN THE TV.
SALITY, EASED BY THE CLOUD, IS THE NEW PARA-
DIGM.
have invested more than $100
million to put together a number
of free online YouTube channels
featuring original and unique pro-
gramming. Other players, such as
Netflix, have developed pay offers
that reached 22.8 million sub-
scribers (Q1 2011 US market), up
63% from the year before, turning
the service into the #1 member-
ship-based entertainment com-
pany. The tendency of Netflix
users to downgrade their pay-TV
service has doubled in the past 12
months, according to a new re-
Twitter used to be a sounding
board for what happening on in
TV and what people enjoyed
watching. When displaying
hashtags or tweets on screen, the
microblogging platform would go
wild with reactions. But the inter-
action is true the other way
around as well : Twit TV is a TV
program entirely based on Cur-
rent Trending Topics on Twitter.
The idea is to watch videos that
are buzzing on the internet and
the quick change of Trending top-
ics allows the “channel” to have a
constantly renewed loop of vid-
In this presentation to investors, Netflix insists on ubiquity eos.

10. 10 SMART TV

11. SMART TV 11

12. 12 SMART TV
NEW HABITS
TELEVISION IS CONTINUING ITS PROGRESSIVE INFILTRATION IN EVERYDAY LIFE WITH MORE
DEVICES ON WHICH TO WATCH CONTENT, MORE CONTENT TO WATCH AND PEOPLE WATCHING
MORE OF IT. BUT THIS OVERALL QUANTITATIVE INCREASE OF TELEVISION VIEWING IS MARKED
BY EVOLUTIONS IN HABITS AROUND ITS CONSUMPTION TOO.
F
or this sprint’s research we like in the more traditional way of … but always with a sense of ac-
asked a number of Nu- watching TV—sitting down facing tive control: “oh ya, that’s right, I
runers to conduct mini- a screen—the television is a major was emailing while watch-
interviews with people on leisure-time activity meant to pro- ing Dexter”
their television habits (in ethno- vide an imaginative space to leave
graphic work, interviewed indi- everyday routines behind. As one If passiveness is a key component
viduals are called “informants”) of our Montreal informants said to a successful TV session, pas-
We compiled these Chinese, “watching television takes me siveness can not feel like a lack of
European and North American away from my little life; it makes control or as missing out. Today
testimonials and drew short eth- me un-bored.” While the content these feelings are countered by
nographic conclusions. can change, visualising television new technologies that enable its
must be experienced in a passive users to feel like they are exercis-
Passive hearing, passive view- state, one that helps decompress. ing more control and access more
ing… Television content and the televi- rapidly any type of content.
sion experience should enable
There are many ways to experi- people to explore different reali- Yesterday’s average couch potato,
ence TV. For example both in ties without too much effort. hence, has become more active in
France and in China, female infor- the sense that his or her TV view-
mants talked about their habit of
using their TV like a radio: a
background sound when friends
are over for an “aperitif” (drink) or
when they are busy cleaning up
their home. But in these cases,

13. SMART TV 13
ally at imposed times, during
which people adopted a limited
number of stories (there were few
channels) and, combined, this
created an obvious collective
sense of self. (Some even argue
ing from a couch is accompanied This disintegration of spatial con- that the increasing presence of
by a flow of chosen content: using straints implies more and more television and the decrease of re-
portable tablets, checking cell- often the individualisation of TV ligion within society is no coinci-
phones while watching television watching. The smaller the screen dence at all). And still today many
is common. Texting while watch- and more spontaneous the view- love the idea of a calendar: a Pari-
ing a movie, or stalking friends ing, the less people will be in- sian informant mentioned “I like
while watching Lost is rarely volved in it. People determine to know that every Tuesday on
qualified as multitasking by infor- their own viewing terms and con- channel 6 there will be Desperate
mants; it’s just watching televi- ditions: they record and upload Housewives.” This feeling is ech-
sion. their shows to watch them any- oed on Twitter (see above) and a
time and at their own rhythm large number of our informants
According to a recent Nielsen (skipping ads and “boring parts”). talk about the morning show as
survey, watching TV is the most part of their daily morning ritual–
common activity while interacting Nonetheless this individualism on their iPad while putting
with other devices: 70% of tablet does not mean that people have makeup on or while preparing
users and 68% of smartphone stopped sharing their TV experi- breakfast.
owners use their devices while ences, quite the contrary.
watching television.
Entertaining myself anywhere
right now and just like I want it
The explosion of portable screens
has meant that television content
is not constrained to a television Humans are social beings and
set plugged in a physical space. Television viewing’s success is hence, rituals are important in
Today people catch-up on the rooted in its ritualistic qualities television’s success, they give peo-
shows they have missed while ple things to talk about. It’s the
commuting on tablets, watch the A ritual is defined as a set of water-cooler effect: talking about
latest DiCaprio during their lunch coded actions that form a strategy Rachel and Ross around the wa-
break at their work desktop and of control over a community as ter-cooler with office colleagues
expect their smartphones to de- well as a mean for this community after the episode in which they
liver high quality live streaming of to appropriate the correct shared broke up for the 6th time.
soccer games at weddings. Ac- set of values. With television the
cording to a recent study in the ritual is both the act of viewing If these rituals still exist, they are
UK, among iPad owners 87% and the content being watched. evolving. Today technology allows
watch YouTube, 74% watch catch- people you know (or yourself) to
up TV, 52% watch iTunes videos In the past television relied on curate your schedule, rather than
and 38% watch live TV on their very clear reassuring ritualistic a random producer: the ritual is
device. behaviours: it brought people to- now rooted in the freedom of de-
gether physically as well as virtu- ciding when, where, what and
who you will connect to through
the TV ritual. For example a fe-
male Montrealer in her 50s told
TODAY WATCHING TELEVISION IS BEING PART OF A us: “Well, we [her and her hus-
band] were always missing The
RITUAL THAT YOU CAN IGNORE, APPROPRIATE OR CU- Tudors so we decided to watch it
RATE. EVEN IF THIS MEANS IT IS DIFFERENT FROM THE together every Sunday afternoon
on Tou.tv (a free VOD channel).”
RITUAL IT USED TO BE, TELEVISION REMAINS A PAS-
SIVE DECOMPRESSING TIME, OR ELSE IT IS NO LONGER
Today’s ritual enables the viewer
to be an active participant in its
CONSIDERED TELEVISION. making.

14. 14 SMART TV

15. SMART TV 15

16. 16 SMART TV
NEW DESIRES, NEW
FRUSTRATIONS
TODAY’S TV IS FILLED WITH PARADOXES, AND ITS INCREASING POSSIBLE FORMS AND CON-
TEXTS HAS MEANT THAT OUR INFORMANTS’ DESIRES AND FRUSTRATIONS TOWARDS IT ARE
TAKING MORE AND MORE SHAPES AS WELL.
P
robably the greatest of all para- our informants expressed an eagerness ducing himself was: “and I don’t watch
doxes is: that the more chan- for shows on Westerners’ adaptation in television.” But turns out that, although
nels there are, the less choice China and vice versa and American he doesn’t consider any of the follow-
there is. Choice plays a funda- advertisements. ing activities as television watching,
mental role and is an essential value to everyday he views concentrated
our social structure. In a sense techno-
logical evolutions are based on people’s
belief that the more options they have
the better the result. Hence, since its
creation, TV has constantly evolved by
responding to this one fundamental
belief turned desire: TV viewers want
the most content to possibly choose
from. Today there are millions of chan- When discussing television with our amounts of news produced by a TV
nels to be potentially seen a minute; Chinese interviewees there’s a pro- channel on his computer “to know
and yet, our informants will complain nounced sense of ease, in particular what’s going on” (“but it’s just like read-
about how poor television content is, relative to our North American and ing the news in a newspaper”) and
how frustrating it is to not find any- French informants. The following jux- downloads television series (Skins, and
thing “good” to watch, etc… Basically taposition of quotes is eloquent on the other teen shows) that he watches
television and its emphasis on choice matter: while a Shanghai man said that often. He differentiates TV set and TV
has meant that while the possibility of “satellite television has many interest- content watching because “unlike
exercising control over millions of ing programs, because Chinese na- when watching television on a set,
visuals is attractive, if not a fundamen- tional television is so boring and use- which is made to forget yourself,
tal aspect of experiencing television, it less,” a female Canadian expressed at watching television content via other
isn’t satisfying or practical, it’s frustrat- length her fear of becoming enslaved devices, like computers, keep you ac-
ing and can ruin a perfectly good televi- by TV if her family got cable. tive.”
sion evening.
“La television c’est du junk food” (TV
is junk food) versus “我爱新技术” (I
love new technology)
All of our informants in one way or
another consume television content,
whether it is 6 hours a day via a televi-
sion set without cable or on a laptop in
bed with illegally downloaded shows.
Certainly because of their restricted
national television, our Chinese infor-
mants are more driven to downloading
illegal international content, buying Relative to the Chinese, European and A need for control: “I hate advertise-
satellite TV with programs like MTV North American informants tend to ments of course,” versus “I hate ads
or Discovery, and streaming channels describe their TV habits and tools in with some exceptions”
from Taiwan or the States. In China terms of a love/hate relationship. For
television is perceived as a window on example the first thing one of our male One thing all of our informants inter-
rest of the world’s values and trends: Montreal informants said after intro- nationally agree on however, is how

17. SMART TV 17
things didn’t feel natural, and most of
all they hated the wait. It wasn’t the
smart TVs’ concept they hated, rather
it was the effort it required to function
and its slowness...
… “I hate buffering”
much they hate ads. By nature adver- with or beings they have chosen and
tising is a platform companies use to respect. Before one could only rely on a People do not want technology to re-
influence viewers that, as we have seen, TV network’s choice of programs, quire patience. From technology they
value choice and like to think of them- whereas today it is possible to rely on a expect speed and ease. Any wait is
selves as decision makers and inde- personal network’s opinions. This terribly frustrating and our informants’
pendent thinkers. Ads, more than sim- doesn’t mean that the traditional biggest fear is the potential for stream-
ply small moments of promotional model is completely outdated, it just ing to be slow. In a similar vein, people
do not want technology to require
tolerance and the quality of an image
that is too low can ruin a perfectly good
“I HATE PEOPLE TALKING OVER MOVIES” viewing. Basically humans expect high
“I LIKE HIGH QUALITY SCREENS FOR MOVIES” quality, rapid and personalized content
through efficient and easy platforms.
“I LOVE WATCHING ‘THAT 70S SHOW’ WITH LUNCH AT WORK”
“I HATE THE LIGHT THAT EMANATES FROM MY SCREEN, There are as many ways of watching
video content as there are humans.
IT WAKES UP MY GIRLFRIEND”
Technology does everything to quench
“I LIKE THE NEWS WHILE COMMUTING” these diverse desires, sometimes even
“SOMETIMES I HATE WATCHING MOVIES WITH MY ROOMMATES” encourages them, however there is one
clear repetitive trend: the smaller the
screen the smaller the crowd, and the
videos, are rooted in notions of power, means that people are also striving for larger the screen the more communal
autonomy and freedom. Today the reciprocal relations when looking for the viewing. This means that soccer
explosion of choice within all of our suggestions and guidance. games, except for rare occasions (one
media sources has meant that users of our French male informants men-
expect to exercise control and play a
bigger role in what they see (many
viewers use other devices like smart
phones, or switch to a new web win-
dow to avoid watching ads). While
these same users know ads are a neces-
sary part of the entertainment game
they also do not feel like they can be
influenced by them: they would rather Material matters: “I hate cables,” “I
an ad that considers reciprocity in its hate loosing the remote control” tioned a soccer game viewing during a
approach than influencing. For exam- wedding that gathered large crowds
ple a Chinese informant mentioned People hate when things demand an around his iPhone), ideally will be
watching foreign ads as an aspect he intense amount of skill or effort to watched on large high definition
particularly enjoys when watching work (perhaps because it reflects their screens (3D TV was created for the last
television. Why does he love them? lack of control and prevents them from World Cup); while for Youtube videos
Because in exchange of his viewing he accessing choice); and yet today the small gatherings in front smaller
learns about what is being done in remote control has too many buttons, screens like tablets or smart phones are
Taiwan which is something he values: the cables take too much room and more likely. This generally means that
there’s a reciprocity. interesting television requires too large screens with cable or satellite are
many plug-ins. During an experiment found in communal spaces such as
This need for reciprocity is also present done by the ad agency, Hill Holliday living rooms near kitchens, while lap-
in people’s relation to non-advertising (mashable.com/2011/01/31/ tops or tablets are dispersingly used by
based content. TV viewers want con- connected-device-experiment/), four smaller in more intimate ways (often
tent from reliable sources, sources that families exchanged their satellite TV solo) around the house—bed room,
know them and with whom they have for smart televisions. The result was bathroom. From the former people
an established relationship with: either that all households wanted their satel- enjoy the communal sharing aspect
friends they have a reciprocal relation lite back: there was too many cables, and from the latter the control.

18. 18 SMART TV
A PROTOTYPE FOR
THE NEAR FUTURE
WE WANTED A PROTOTYPE THAT WOULD HELP BRING EASINESS TO THE TV EXPERIENCE, FO-
RESHADOWING WHAT COULD BE IN THE PIPELINE OF THE IPTV ACTORS. TO ACHIEVE THIS, WE
LISTED ALL THE REALITIES THAT BREAK THE SEAMLESS EXPERIENCE, AS PEOPLE EXPRESS
THEM. WE IMAGINED SOLUTIONS FOR EACH OF THEM. BACK TO THE COUCH!
For a real life demonstration of this prototype, contact nurun.lab@nurun.com
WHAT IS THE MAIN
C
onnected TV needs to be Just switch on the TV …
as simple as the original
TV set to gain everyday Today there is a general consen- DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A
usage. Think of the sus that watching the content you TV SET AND A COMPUTER?
iPad’s on and off button: custom- want on TV— be it live, streamed
ers love devices that work in- or stored—requires a certain level YOU TURN IT ON, AND IT
stantly. of expertise and patience: first to
PLAYS

19. SMART TV 19
connect the devices and then to type will display the latest videos THE INCREASING
pick and choose the content. The shared by one’s Facebook or Twit-
easy instantaneity of just turning ter networks, for them to be AMOUNT OF INDIVIDUAL
the TV on and watching broad- watched one by one or all in a
casts has been lost and needs to row. VIDEO WATCHING RITU-
be found again. After having done ALS DOES NOT MEAN
some field research, the Lab con- My content on TV
cluded that most humans are per- THAT ITS SOCIAL DIMEN-
fectly comfortable with not decid- Time-based media content (home SION HAS DISAPPEARED.
ing a thing while viewing TV. In videos, forgotten downloaded
our prototype hence, we included movies, etc…) is often lost in
“Instant Smart Launch” which some PC-connected storage de- there are many different ways of
enables the viewer to switch his or vice. More by lack of accessibility watching TV: alone, with a friend,
her TV and get, based on watch- than by lack of interest, users with a team, with foreigners, as a
ing history, a stream of content don’t think of it as an option for background sound, with intense
straight away. Importantly, how- their evening television sessions. curiosity, or as a time filler and in
ever, the feeling of gaining control From this, the Lab came up with your living room, in a pub, or
is important so the option of zip- an automated push feature of per- while commuting. Because of the
ping through endless amounts of sonal editorialized content based variety of content available and
cable channels will remain avail- on special dates and events. This viewing sources, the TV watching
able. will give forgotten personal con- ritual evolved from a collective
tent a renewed interest and visi- event into an individualistic mo-
… and choose your screen bility. ment. Social media resources and
other sharing platforms are ways
Any screen is now a potential TV. Pick & choose your advertising to bring the collective dimension
To envision real future usages, the of the TV watching ritual back
technologies involved in our pro- To avoid advertising slots that (without its painful elements like
totype must make watching any break TV’s flow, people have de- waiting, imposed times…). Their
content on any screen simple, and veloped strategies to avoid such use is integrated directly in the
switching from one screen to an- disruptions with VOD or Face- prototype to stay fluid.
other seamless. The cloud and booking during ads. We believe
html 5 technologies promise to advertisements are bound to be-
free TV content and offer more come increasingly more personal-
spontaneous and independent ized without being intrusive or
viewing experiences. based on personal data. A good
strategy at targeting better ads
IT IS HARD TO CHOOSE BETWEEN A LOT OF GOOD
CONTENT, EVEN MORE SO WHEN THE FLOW NEVER
STOPS. BROWSING, ZAPPING AND CHOICE HAVE TO
BE OVERSIMPLIFIED TO FIGHT THE FEELING OF MISS-
ING SOMETHING.
Curation: let people I trust and engaging viewers more than Watch later button
choose for me traditional televised publicity is
having them choose the business We spend our days receiving con-
One of the key success factors of category of their ad. This will give tent we are too busy to watch or
social media platforms is content them a better feeling of control. In to fully enjoy at the moment of its
curation – seeing and reading our prototype on-demand content reception. In our prototype, a
what people we know, either as sponsored by ads will be preceded “Watch Later” button in the user’s
friends or as experts, use to curate by a selection screen on which the web browser or mail box will gen-
their own statuses. Generally this viewer can choose the category of erate a playlist that can be
data is more valuable for us than his or her ad. browsed or played automatically
anyone else’s content. Curated later.
content need to find its way into Social watching 2.0
TV and create a long tail of the-
matic mini-channels. Our proto- Thanks to new technologies today

20. 20
SMART TV
Photo credits. P2: Jim Rees, Zach Petersen, P3: Jerine Lay, P5: oddharmonic, P8:jswaffordphoto, P12: Florian—A document produced by the Nurun Lab